PIYW #10 — Meta Feedback

rsl12 · 2026-07-16T08:05:24+00:00

Update 2: 15 September 2026 "Play 'Last Song' Your Way" is now live! Click to listen. rsl12 Platybat KevinM TulipAcid TC3 You can continue to use this thread to discuss your preparation of the piece, or to discuss any other matters regarding Play It Your Way. Update 1: 16 July 2026 PIYW #10: Play "Last Song" Your Way Play It Your Way is a quasi-monthly event for beginners, professionals, classical, jazz, or pop pianists and everyone in between! We are starting work on "Last Song" by Alexis Ffrench . Use the links below to find the sheet music you like, and when you are ready, post your performance in the submission thread. Perfection is not expected! Previous PIYWs: PIYW #9: Play Chopin's "Wiosna (Spring)" Your Way PIYW #8: Play "How Long Blues" Your Way PIYW #7: Play "Over the Rainbow" Your Way Full List of Previous PIYWs Thanks to KevinM for this month's selection! Please suggest pieces for future "Play It Your Way" events by using the suggestion box. The theme of the next PIYW (to be announced in August 2026) is "Jazz or Ragtime", but feel free to submit good ideas across all genres. Guidelines This is not a contest! It is meant to be a casual and fun event. You can use this thread to discuss your preparation of the piece, or anything else related to PIYW. To submit a recording of your performance, go to the submission thread. All PIYW submissions will remain hidden from public view until 15 September 2026. However, there is no deadline for when you need to submit your performance. Although most participants submit their recording before that date, you may submit at any time. Use the recital schedule to plan your participation in future recitals! "Last Song" by Alexis Ffrench (2009) From Wikipedia: Alexis Ffrench (born 1970) is a British classical-soul musician, composer, producer, and pianist. Ffrench's music has more than a billion streams and his albums Evolution (2018), Dreamland (2020) and Classical Soul Vol. 1 (2024) reached No. 1 in the Classical Music Charts. From the footnote to the ABRSM edition: [Ffrench] says of this piece: "Last Song was originally written for my daughter, Savannah, when she was a very young child, as a piece to accompany her early ballet dances. For me, it recalls the innocence of childhood and the wonder of possibility. I hope it resonates with you too and becomes part of your story. Happy piano playing." Links to Sheet Music / Lead Sheet You are not limited to only the music linked below. Feel free to find or create your own version. You do not have to complete or perfect the piece to submit it, and don't be afraid to simplify or shorten the piece. Improvisation, backing tracks, and backing humans are all allowed. Sheet music: Note: This is a Grade 6 (intermediate level) piece, but we have come up with some easier options. See this post. USA https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/446751/Product.aspx?utm_source=halleonard&utm_medium=referral&campaign=search (3-page version, $6) https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/se/ID_No/1555674/Product.aspx?utm_source=halleonard&utm_medium=referral&campaign=search (2-page version, $4. It's the same as the 3-page version, just more crowded on the page!) UK https://www.fabermusic.com/shop/last-song-d12063 (£2.50)

rsl12

ShiroKuro The song's short trajectory is simple and builds in a straightforward manner, so I'm curious how you'll handle the extra lap around the track. You don't have to tell me--I'm happy to wait until the performance.

ShiroKuro

rsl12 I'm happy to wait until the performance

I wasn’t planning on recording it with the repeat for PIYW! 😅

I figured people didn’t need to hear a repeat when we’re all playing the same piece, so I haven’t really been practicing it with the repeat yet.

rsl12

I've submitted! I've never been this ahead of recital schedule!

PS. @TC3, I've used gumlet for this submission. It went very smoothly!

rsl12

ShiroKuro I figured people didn’t need to hear a repeat when we’re all playing the same piece, so I haven’t really been practicing it with the repeat yet.

I think Wiosna showed that everyone here has a high tolerance for repetition!

ShiroKuro

rsl12 I think Wiosna showed that everyone here has a high tolerance for repetition!

🤣

TC3

I've actually been spending some time on this, finally! I have the first half "under my fingers" as I like to say -- nothing remotely like performance ready, but it's making some sense, fingerings figured out, can eek through it slowly, haltingly, way under tempo ...

Curious: what are folks doing for dynamics? My version (from the collected works book) only has mp at the beginning, a crescendo leading up to the key change, then f from there on out. It seems like it wants a bit more than that, but I don't have anything systematic in mind, maybe just play it a little louder or softer here and there as I'm feeling it.

Also: the composer's notes say "Use the sustain pedal throughout to create a richness of sonority but avoid clashing harmonies." I honestly don't see how it's possible to play this without clashing harmonies, but I also don't think it's really a problem. So much of this sort of piano music is recorded with generous amounts of reverb, so the clashing just seems like part of the studio sound. Looking at performances online, it doesn't seem like anyone is all that bothered by it as they're playing, so I don't think I'll get too uptight about it either.

rsl12

TC3 I shared my markup of the beginning earlier, but here it is again. I added a few things since, but not much:

Mostly crescendos, decrescendos, and tenuto marks. I wrote out some specific dynamics, but mostly I was thinking about open and closed playing, and specifically how the song blooms from reticent to expressive. So when closed, the movements are small and introspective, and as it opens up, it sounds more like a unloading of emotions.

ShiroKuro

TC3 I've actually been spending some time on this, finally!

Me too! I just spent a lot of time on this yesterday for the first time in a while (because last week I was trying to do my PT recital recording and then I was on my trip, and I don’t okay “in-progress” pieces at public pianos).

My plan for today’s practice session was to listen to Ffrench’s recording and think about the dynamics and breath. And also decide whether to play the repeat I created (as per @rsl12 ’s comment, since PT people have a “high tolerance” for repetition 😃

Curious: what are folks doing for dynamics?

Yep, figuring this out will be on my “to do” list for today.

Also: the composer's notes say "Use the sustain pedal throughout to create a richness of sonority but avoid clashing harmonies." I honestly don't see how it's possible to play this without clashing harmonies, but I also don't think it's really a problem.

I haven’t decided yet for this piece, but usually when I play Ffrench, I do a fair amount of half-pedalling for the changes or to clear out some mush. To me one important thing is to figure out any spot where there’s a serious need for a total “clear pedal” moment, so that’s also on my to do list for today.

ShiroKuro

rsl12 are your pedal raises full or half up? Here I’m looking at the mid-measure points you have marked, like in measure one, beat three.

TC3

ShiroKuro I do a fair amount of half-pedalling for the changes or to clear out some mush.

Yes, thanks for mentioning that! I usually pedal "by ear" as they say, but I'm struggling with this one, probably because I'm not as familiar with the style. If anything, my natural tendency seems to be over-pedaling, and I'm losing those bass notes, but just last night I was trying more half pedaling and it helped.

Of course, I'll be lucky to have much of anything at all together by next month, so mostly I'm going to wing it! 😃

TulipAcid

TC3 @ShiroKuro

I’m very interested in this half pedaling conversation. I’m sure my attempts to do so in my humble (very) recital piece were less than optimal. My A88 outputs 127 increments and thus supports half-pedaling. Proven by the Pianoteq calibration tool.

I get the concept, though applying it remains a coordination issue (ear to foot.) It wasn’t something ever discussed in my 10 years of piano lessons back in the 60’s-70’s. Go figure!

I’ve played through Last Song a few times. As I’m still in my glitchy-returned-to-piano-after-years-long-breaks I’m not sure I’ll record it…

ShiroKuro

TC3 my natural tendency seems to be over-pedaling

I might know someone else like this.... 😃

TulipAcid I’m very interested in this half pedaling conversation.

I don't know that I have much helpful to add, other than that it does indeed require getting use to, physically as well as aurally.

Also, I feel much more comfortable doing it when my heel is a little raised up. That might be because I have a chronic orthopedic condition in my right foot, but at my home piano I have a folded up mat to put my foot on, so my foot is higher than it other wise would be. When I'm playing someone else's piano or a public piano and my foot/heel is sitting too low, I find intricate pedaling to be more challenging.

rsl12

ShiroKuro The pedal marks that look like tiny weeds in a field, those are indeed half-raises or maybe even flutter pedaling.

ShiroKuro

rsl12 half-raises or maybe even flutter pedaling

I don't know that I've heard term flutter but, depending on the piece, I do a lot of intricate pedalling (that's different from half-pedalling)

BTW by flutter here, do you mean less than a half-raise, or a very fast up and down re-pedalling? Or something else?

rsl12

ShiroKuro

rsl12 ahh, yep, that’s basically what I meant by intricate pedaling, with the speed of the footwork being determined by the piece itself.

Separate from that, I’m curious about her footwear… 😃

KevinM

I have a pair of sandals that always live next to my keyboard. I don’t like pedalling using my feet or my slippers. The sandals have a rigid enough sole that makes pedalling easy.

ShiroKuro

KevinM I use to pedal in bare feet or socks (years ago!) but I have a bone deformity in my heel and now I need to have my heel raised up a bit. So at home, I have a folded up mat to go under my heel (and I wear indoor shoes, so not barefoot). When I out at a public piano or in my lesson, I'm usually ok because of the shoes I'm wearing. But if the piano is up on a dolly, such that the pedals are higher than usual, that makes my foot hurt.

For the woman in the video, it looks like a slipper on the right and maybe a regular shoe (boot) on the left. I wonder if she wants to be able to feel the pedal through the soft slipper sole?

rsl12

TC3 OK, here's a complete list of the p and f marks I added to my copy:

So that's what I notated--the ones I thought needed notating because otherwise I might forget them. Hope it helps!

ShiroKuro

rsl12 Cool, I'll look at this when I get home.

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